Lilith tossed and turned on her oversized bed, the warm afternoon sun streaming through the windows and bathing the room in a golden glow. She sighed heavily, letting the book in her hands fall onto the mattress.

    As the student council president, she shouldn''t have been lounging in her dorm at this hour. Yet here she was, confined under house arrest. Continue reading stories on empire

    She groaned, her voice muffled against the pillow.

    "I''m so bored... Damn it, Damon, what are you plotting right now?"

    It had been like this for the past two days. The punishment had been swift but relatively light, considering the scale of her offense. She and Renata had been reprimanded for starting a fight in town—not just a petty squabble, but a clash between two formidable individuals who had already achieved second and third class advancements.

    Although they had held back, the aftermath had left the neighborhood in ruins. Thankfully, no one had been hurt or killed, a fact Lilith attributed to the unusually wide streets of the area.

    "I guess we owe it to town planning," she muttered dryly, brushing a strand of hair from her face.

    The academy, eager to avoid bad press, had punished them with only a symbolic slap on the wrist. As the top two students of their year, their battle had inadvertently showcased the strength of academy students, turning what could have been a PR nightmare into a demonstration of power. The damaged properties had already been repaired, and the residents compensated generously—enough to leave them smiling despite the chaos.

    But Lilith wasn''t smiling.

    Her confinement meant Damon had free rein to act without her interference. Worse, he had taken advantage of the chaos she''d caused. While the academy''s attention was focused on her and Renata, Damon had gone after Tobias Morgan.

    And succeeded.

    Lilith clenched her fists, her nails digging into the bedsheets. She didn''t have all the details, but she knew Damon had lured Tobias out of house arrest and killed him. By the time the academy realized Tobias was missing, they assumed he had run away.

    But Lilith knew better.

    "What in the name of the Goddess are you doing, Damon? Why can''t I predict you? What are you planning? Why are you injured like this...?"

    Her cheeks flushed slightly as her mind wandered to the bloodied image of him. Her hand instinctively brushed her shoulder, the spot where Damon had grabbed her once in a moment of calm fury. Even in his anger, he had denied her accusations with a chilling conviction.

    "You''re definitely not innocent," she chuckled softly to herself.

    Lilith knew Damon was killing his targets methodically. They all shared one thing in common—they had all crossed him in some way.

    "He didn''t have a reason to kill them before... but now, something''s changed. He sees a benefit in their deaths, a tangible one," she mused.

    "How will he solve this if the academy discovers the commonality."

    ''I am certain he has a sure fire way to keep his hands clean.....''

    Sitting by her mirror, her red hair cascading over her dress, Lilith considered the names of those who might be next Rein Ambridge, Elmont Garnier, Malcolm Tatarstan, Marcus Fayjoy.

    "Who will it be?" she whispered, a small smile playing on her lips.

    "He''s unleashed now... A predator I can no longer suppress. One more will die today—or tomorrow, but soon. His attacks follow a pattern, and I''m close to deciphering it."

    Her gaze fell back to the papers he had left as bait, her smile widening. Damon''s cunning was undeniable, but she didn''t need to win every battle. She only needed to win the war.

    Lilith''s pulse quickened as a sudden idea took hold.

    Reaching for her pager, she dialed Damon Grey''s number. The device felt cold against her palm as she brought it to her ear, the faint hum of the line connecting filling the silence.

    "Let''s hear it from the murderous horse''s mouth," she said with a smirk, anticipation flickering in her eyes.